Spin Factor: Lucero getting it; Bebe & Cece ‘Still’ got it

Lucero 31372 Overton Park (Universal Park)

The Memphis ensemble Lucero venture far more deeply into soul than ever before with their newest disc, thanks to several excellent horn arrangements from top Memphis sax star Jim Spake.

Whether taking a reflective direction on “Sounds of the City” and “Goodbye Again,” posing rhetorical questions in “What Are You Willing to Lose” and “Hey Darlin’ Do You Gamble” or just doing straightforward pieces such as “Darken My Door” and “Sixes and Sevens,” lead singer Ben Nichols has never sung with more clarity, verve and conviction.

31372 displays a fuller, yet also more disciplined group sound, as producer Ted Hutt’s studio touches result in an exuberant, spirited release.

They close with an appropriately sentimental piece “Mom,” as 1372 Overton Park (their longtime headquarters) celebrates their past and offers fresh directions for the future.

Bebe & CeCe Winans Still (B&C)

Once one of contemporary gospel’s best duos, the brother/sister team Bebe & CeCe Winans reunite after a 15-year absence (as a performing team) with Still (B&C), an excellent release that includes both songs with crossover appeal and numbers with espousing more traditional themes of faith and salvation.

Marvin Winans joins them on “Things,” while the duo Mary Mary help turn “Let It Be” into a joyful and moving finale.

Other fine songs include the emphatic “He Can Handle It” and “Changed My World,” as well as “Grace” and “Reason To Dance,” a pair of songs that should convince even the most ardent old school gospel type that incorporating secular musical elements and production devices don’t always result in compromising a spiritual message.

Will Downing Classique (Concord)

Downing’s velvet smooth, rich and mellow sound remains among the most endearing and striking in the smooth jazz/adult R&B world, and this latest collection also represents an impressive triumph over physical problems.

Despite battling the crippling muscular disease polymyositis that forced him to cut almost all these tunes from a wheelchair, Downing still injects into numbers like “Love Suggestions,” “I’m Gonna Love You A Little More Baby,” and “I Won’t Stop” ample sensuality and energy.

But his finest moments come on two sparkling covers. The first is a bold reworking of the soul anthem “Baby I’m For Real,” the other a superb reconfiguration of “Statue of A Fool,” once a country classic for Jack Greene and later done by David Ruffin and Ricky Van Shelton.

Downing’s version puts a fine finish on an outstanding session he also co-produced with longtime friend and colleague Rex Rideout.

James McMurtry Live in Europe (Lightning Rod)

Whether the subject’s love, politics or culture, James McMurtry’s take will always prove enticing.

This collection of cuts recorded live at various sites in England, the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland also finds McMurtry’s band buttressed by the keyboard flair of Ian McLagan and fine rhythm guitar support from Tim Holt.

Though McMurtry’s spry, crisp and often ragged lead vocals remain the primary force, the backing provided by Holt, McLagan and bass/drums tandem of Ronnie Johnson and Daren Ness is also a key factor that enriches such songs as “Bayou Torture,” “Hurricane party” and “Freeway View.”

“Ruby and Carlos” and “You’d A Thought (Leonard Cohen Must Die)” are other examples of the McMurtry wit in overdrive, and those who get the deluxe package can also enjoy a DVD of the band doing both similar and different numbers during an equally intense Amsterdam concert. 

Various Artists Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds (WB)

Just as Tarantino’s film Inglorious Basterds plays fast and loose with history, this release chronicling its music jumbles, mixes and blends differing idioms into an odd, but effective soundtrack.

There are standard segments from Ennio Morricone, Jacques Loussier and The Film Studio Orchestra juxtaposed against a Billy Preston soul tune (“Slaughter”) and a David Bowie rocker (“Cat People [Putting Out Fire]).”

Pieces of German pop from Zarah Leander and the duo of Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch are sandwiched between the lightweight fluff “The Man With The Big Sombrero.”

Still, the disc’s quirky and rambling nature perfectly mirror the absurdist strains in Tarantino’s production, ensuring that even those who’ve never seen it get a sense of how far the movie strays from conventional war epics in sound and sensibility.